everywhere i go at the moment, ...it's christmas!.
constant "reminders" - the shops, the tv, the magazines, the newspapers... .
whilst you were still a jw, how did you manage to get through it all?
I dreaded it, because I hated having to explain to people I worked with.
Also if they had a party or gave gifts to each other, they always excluded me because I asked them to, however it was still awkard.
And it sometimes I would just feel so sad when I heard Xmas music, looked at decorations or saw movies with xmas scenes. I really longed for the tradition and the happy time with your family.
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here's a movie that i think jdubs can relate as much as jdubs can relate to the matrix.. it has some really cool reviews and i'm gonna go see it.. check out the review at.... http://www.chud.com/news/oct02/oct28equilibrium.php3.
I just saw this yesterday.
There are many interesting parallels to the witnesses and cultlike organizations in general. They even call their leader "Father" and the enforcers of the laws are called the Clerics of the Tetragramaton. No one is allowed to feel the highs and lows of human emotions because they take a drug at regular intervals to suppress feelings. All forms of art are forbidden. No one has pets - even puppies are killed on sight. They are taught it is a small price to pay - giving up the highs of human emotion so as to avoid the darker emotions that lead to war and killing. However, of course they are still murdering people who rebel and commit "sense crimes".
Some action scenes were laughable, but overall a very good movie. It makes you think and makes you very thankful to not be a part of the borg anymore.
And Christian Bale and Taye Diggs are HOT HOT HOT!
my mother in law called tonight to tell us that the society is releasing a new video about blood.
i checked the jw media sight and i see a couple of videos about blood released in 2001.. also, they seem to have won several awards for various video news releases at the world media festival?
i am totally disgusted.
thanks brummie,
I checked those links. Got more info from my hubby. Apparently my mom-in-law's congregation was instructed that they MUST watch the video, (they are going to show it at the meeting) before they sign their blood cards.
EVIL EVIL EVIL. I am so angry I can't see straight right now. they are doing this to protect their asses from lawsuits.
my mother in law called tonight to tell us that the society is releasing a new video about blood.
i checked the jw media sight and i see a couple of videos about blood released in 2001.. also, they seem to have won several awards for various video news releases at the world media festival?
i am totally disgusted.
My mother in law called tonight to tell us that the society is releasing a new video about blood. Does anyone know anything about this? I checked the JW media sight and I see a couple of videos about blood released in 2001.
Also, they seem to have won several awards for various video news releases at the World Media Festival? Does anyone know anything about this?
I am totally disgusted. The society is producing videos the ave. dub knows nothing about (half of them probably don't even know the media site exists), getting awards and accolades for their role in pioneering bloodless treatments at the expense of the lives of their members.
And my mother-in-law thinks this video will make me come back? She also SMUGLY informed us that they are getting their blood cards this year. GEEZ I wonder why. Could it be...Army grant to Biopure? Recent award from the Society of Blood Management? (see the jw media sight) It is so sickening I want to DA myself this minute. Oh well, I am sure it's going to happen XMas morning anyway.
ARGHHHHH! I hate them!
i used to get into trouble for making light of the these phrases that some elders have told me are to be used only gods people.
lol that you all may know maybe:.
"well, brother that is very "commendable," just before the meeting ends the po says to those in attendance "brothers the time left is reduced," i once heard a co say to those seated during one of his talks "well now, we don't want to die at armageddon now do we, well of course not.
today i talked to a witness I haven't spoken with in awhile
she was talking about a woman who was married but didn't want to "work outside the home"
I had forgotten about that totally sexist expression.
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how many of you hold to some of the beliefs jws taught, and what are they?
peace james
I don't believe any of it anymore. And I think maybe my whole life, in the back of my mind I didn't believe.
I believe that ALL religion and ALL holy books are just part of humankind's evolution. They were ways to give hope, explain our existence and keep order in society. Unfortunately they were also the justification for men to dominate women for centuries. They are also the reason for prejudice and hatred just as easily as they may have been a force for good and understanding.
Simply put, people are evolving as a species and learning what works and what doesn't. What makes their existence better and more meaningful and what doesn't. Religion absolutely DOES NOT make us better. In every way shape or form RELIGION IS EVIL.
ETHICS and VALUES are different to me. Ethics and values make people and the world better. Things like honesty, loyalty, love, kindness, generosity, peace, tolerance, integrity, etc. And I believe wholeheartedly that it doesn't take fear of GOD to bring these qualities out in people. (maybe fear of jail, hee hee).
Life is TEN times better when you stop trying to answer questions that you can not. NO one knows if God exists, and if so why we are here and what happens when we die. So Stop losing sleep over it. If there is a God and he/she is going to judge us, how can you rightly believe you will be judged on anything more than using your common sense and following the Golden Rule? What sense does it make to force us to decipher all kinds of cryptic prophecies, follow a bunch of elaborte ridiculous rules (don't say "bless you" when someone sneezes) and blindly follow the leadings of another human that is no different from yourself? AND live in dreaded fear of the possibility of dying at Armageddon despite trying your best.
The other night I was leaving my favorite bookstore. I stood at the doorway and watched my son and my husband racing each other to our car. I was holding a cup of warm Chai tea and had just left my most favorite place on earth, namely a bookstore. It was one of those perfect moments in life. And it dawned on me, when I was a dub I would not have allowed myself to revel in the moment long without a sharp reminder to myself that "it's all well and fine, but what if you lose it all at Armageddon because you aren't home studying or preparing for field service". I would have shuddered and gone back to berating myself for everything I did wrong.
But, now that I am not a dub. I just laughed, paused and drank in the moment. Honey, if that's as good as it's going to get, anything else is just icing.
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if it wasn't for the internet, and sites like these, would you still be an active witness?
I had already come to my own conclusions on the blood issue. This gave me the courage to look at the web. I in turn found the website ajwrb.org. The website opened a whole new world to me. But I was still afraid to look at any other site that looked "too apostate". I wouldn't look at silentlambs or at freeminds or watchtower observer. HOWEVER, I got brave enough to click a link (not even sure were I saw the link) to this forum.
This website has given me so much. It is my group therapy, so to speak. Reading the personal experiences is so validating and freeing. You are so relieved to find people who have shared the same feelings and experiences. And it is quite motivating to see how people have gone on with their lives. More than anything else this website gave me courage that there is live after the watchtower.
i was given the december 8, 2002 awake from a relative, and that is the title to an article inside.
it goes on to relate how violent some parents and coaches have become and gives some examples of parents who have been violent in regards to their children's sports activities.
while i do realize that there probably are instances of violent parents.....i'm sure these instances are relatively few and sporadic.
I too read this article - I am still getting a subscription.
It really makes me so mad how they twist things. A couple of incidents of violence related to children's sports and they write an article that there is an "epidemic" as a scare tactic to reinforce the old ideas of witnesses kids not getting to play sports.
It is soo sad how many witnesses kids miss out on the joy of playing sports. Not too mention the training it gives kids in life lessons, how to get a long with others, how to win/lose graciously, how to strive for excellence how to take care of one's body and keep physically fit.
I never was into sports. But I was restricted from trying out for plays and participating in debate and other acting/presenting competitions. I got to be in one play my junior year in high school that required after school rehearsals, on the condition that I was excused from rehearsals scheduled on meeting nights. It was soo embarrasing having to ask the drama teacher to make an exception in my case and to have all the other kids wonder where I was. The sad thing is I was part of the cast but never really "connected" or made friends because as usual, although I may be involved in something that was cool, I was still a JW freak.
I realize my parents were doing something they thought was right and that would protect me - and granted maybe it did. But it was the beginning of the painful road I travelled as a JW adult, stifling the true person inside for the sake of 'the kingdom"
i was reading the post on our standing within the congregation http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=40040&site=3&page=3 and no matter what part of the world we live in, its always the same thing.. it is always the elders kids that get away with murder while the ones that are really trying to do the right thing always get blamed for it.. when i would mention this to my mum she would always reply with, satan has already got them.
he is trying to get you.. if you are getting persecuted.. it means you are doing the right thing.. does that sound strange to anyone other then me?.
kelps
I always struggled with that kind of reasoning. But its designed to keep you trapped in a vicious cycle. Being a witness can make you depressed and an outcast and even the object of ridicule, but you are told that's the way you should feel because Satan is persecuting you. However you are constantly told that Jah is a god of happiness, so, if you are not happy then you are doing something wrong and you need to try harder.
There is often a double standard with discipline when it is an elder's relative. I have seen it too many times not to believe it. the sad thing is that when it is noticed in the congregation people say something like what your mom said or they say that if the elder has done something wrong Jah will reveal it. However if you call out the elder(s) on favoritism you are branded an apostate.
This is enough to drive anyone crazy. Become a witness - and LOSE YOUR MIND!
stupid rules list....
i will start.... number 1) two people have to witness a sin before it is reported to the superior authorities....making me the org the last word in all areas.. the most stupid rule gets to post it once the gb has judged it the most stupid?
maybe simon will be one of the judges..... breeze
No humming to Xmas songs played while shopping.
No non meeting toys or books for the kids at the meetings.
Expecting small kids to sit still during the meeting.
Believing that cleaning the Kingdom Hall was a "privilege"
No toasting.
No "R" rated movies.
No rap music or heavy metal. No disco music or disco dancing. No breakdancing.
No listening to Michael Jackson.
No Tae Bo (maybe only in my congregation but it was banned from the platform)
No attending friends or families weddings or funerals held in a church.
No eating those conversation hearts around Valentine's Day. or candy corn around Halloween or turkey on Thanksgiving.
